T 499 



A^^ ^-*-^ -*-^-^--^-^-^-^-^^ 



A MEMORIAL 



FROM THH 



CITIZENS OF COLUMBUS, 



ON THB SUBJECT OF AN 



ARMORY AND ARSENAL, 



TO BE 



ESTABLISHED BY THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT 



COLUMBUS, OHIO. 




COLUMBUS: 

RICHARD NEVINS, PRINTER. 
1862. 





lass 

took , Gl C"j 



SMITHSONIAN HU'OSIT 



A MEMORIAL 



FROM THE 



CITIZENS OF COLUMBUS, 



ON THE SUBJECT OF AN 



ARMORY. AND ARSENAL, 



ESTABLISHED BY THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT 



COLUMBUS, OHIO. 



■r\ 1 1 » n - 



COLUMBUS: 

RICHARD NEVINS, PRINTER. 
1SG2. 



MEMORIAL. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives, 

in Congress assembled: 

Your memorialists were gratified to receive a copy of House 
Bill No. 3-16, of the 2nd session of the 37th Congress, the 
4th section of which is contained in the following words, viz : 
" And be it further enacted, That the sum of five hundred thou- 
sand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, out of 
any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for 
the purchase of the necessary ground, establishment and con- 
struction of a National armory and arsenal, at the city of 
Columbus, in the State of Ohio, and procurement of the neces- 
sary buildings, power, machiner} 7 , and tools for the same: 
Provided, That the cost of the same shall not exceed the 
amount herein appropriated." 

Your memorialists are of opinion that the fact that the situ- 
ation of Columbus suggested itself to the mind of the author 
of the bill as being an eligible and desirable point for the 
location of a National armory and arsenal, should have been 
sufficient to insure the location at this point. But since other 
points have submitted for your approval the claims of their 
several localities, it may not be improper to state, somewhat 
in detail, the claims of the city of Columbus. 



In locating an establishment of the description indicated in 
the bill, your memorialists are of opinion that a National 
armory and arsenal should be located so as to subserve mili- 
tary purposes, and, consequently, the general welfare. It 
should, therefore, be located at such a point where it could 
command the utmost facilities of transportation to the large 
region of country to be supplied — where the most ample ma- 
terials for the manufacture of arms could be readily obtained 
and at the lowest rates ; whilst at the same time the establish- 
ment itself should be so geographically situated that it could 
not readily be taken by, or be permitted to fall into the hands 
of, an invading enemy. 

Should the establishment be located at any point on the. 
southern shore of Lake Erie and a war with Great Britain 
ensue, a hostile fleet, of iron clad steamers from Toronto or 
Port Stanley, or any other Canadian port, might shell and 
destroy the town, and take possession of the entire establish- 
ment. Should it be located at Cincinnati ; and Kentucky, from 
causes beyond control, become the border battle ground of a 
foe domestic or foreign, it is much more probable that the 
establishment would be captured and sacked, than if located 
at Columbus — a point about equidistant from Cleveland or 
Sandusky and Cincinnati. 

Nor should it be forgotten, nor the lessons of experience be 
ignored, that " in the canker of a calm world and a long 
peace" — " disturbances that do beget themselves" render pub- 
lic property less secure in very large cities than in smaller 
ones. 

The capital of a State is always the repository of the archives 
of the State, and is the point which is always most zealously 
defended by the soldiery or citizens of the State. The fact 
that Columbus is less likely to be attacked by an invading 



foe than cither Cleveland or Cincinnati, gives it the preference 
of location on that account, should other and surrounding cir- 
cumstances be equal. 

Columbus is, bj the constitution and laws, the head-quar- 
ters of the Commander-inCnief of the Ohio military forces. 
This being the fact, troops can be armed much more readily 
and with less expense at Columbus than at any point on the 
border of the State. The experience of the past twelve months 
has shown a large saving to the government in the way of 
transportation, by arming the Onio volunteers at Columbus, 
and an additional saving would have been made had all the arms 
needed by these troops been at Columbus. There is, there- 
fore, an especial propriety in locating the establishment where 
it can be under the immediate surveillance of the Commander- 
in-Chief. 

The country to be supplied from a National arsenal, located 
at Columbus, may be safely estimated to extend over a region 
of 800 miles in every direction. 

With Columbus as a centre, and a radius of 300 miles, the 
inscribed circle will embrace — 

1st. All of Kentucky east of the Cumberland river. 

2nd. All of that portion of Tennessee ljing between Ft. 
Henry, Nashville, and to a point 60 miles south of Knoxville ; 
thence nearly due east to the North Carolina line. 

3rd. The north-west portion of North Carolina. 

•4th. All of Virginia lying west of a line drawn through 
the point where the 80th degree of longitude crosses the 36th 
parallel of latitude, to Washington City ; from thence to Bal- 
timore, including 

oi ii. All of Maryland west of Baltimore. 

6„u. All of Pennsylvania lying west of Harrisburg, Pa. 



6 

7th. All of New York Iving west of Seneca Lake, embra- 
cing half of Lake Ontario, half of Lake Simcoe, (in Canada) 
Nottawasaga Bay in Canada, half of Lake Huron. 

8th. All of Michigan. 

9th. All of Indiana. 

10th. All of Illinois lying east of the 89th degree of longi- 
tude, commencing on the 42nd parallel of latitude; thence 
south through Springfield to the mouth of the Cumberland 
river. 

Making an area embracing 282,744 square miles. 

This area embraces a population of 10,994,897, according 
to the census ot 18C0, exclusive of that portion of Canada 
embraced within its limits. This population is as follows : 

1st. In the included portion of Kentucky 1,074,083 

2d. " < ; " Tennessee 528,489 

3d. " " " North Carolina 205,921 

4th. " " " Virginia 1,092,172 

5th. " " " Maryland 290,084 

6th. " " " Pennsylvania 1,333,790 

7th. " " " New York 701,139 

8th. ' ; « » Wisconsin 188,084 

9th. " " " Illinois 1,079,845 

10th. The entire population of Ohio 2,339,599 

11th. " « Indiana 1.350,479 

12th. " » Michigan 749,112 

10,994,397 

In the following measurement of distances from Columbus 

to the several points indicated, the actual distance by railroad 

or steamboat has been accepted instead of the radial lines : 

Miles by railroad. 

From Columbus to St. Louis 442 

'' " Nashville 442 

" " Baltimore 513 

" " Chicago 372 

" " Pittsburg 222 

" Ilarrisbiirg 409 

" " Lexington 219 

" " Louisville 250 

" " Wheeling 157 

" " Cairo 397 

" Detroit 277 

" " Indianapolis 180 

" " Springfield, 111 404 

" " Madison, Wis 503 



From this statement, it is very manifest, that in from 12 to 
24 hours, arms can be transported from Columbus to almost 
any point embraced within the territory before described. 

FACILITIES FOE TRANSPORTATION. 

Columbus is so situated that there is not a single county in 
the State that cannot be reached in the evening, by leaving 
the city in the morning. It is situated and forms one fo the 
termini of the following roads, viz : 

1. Cleveland and Columbus. 

2. Columbus, Xenia and Little Miami. 
-'!. Columbus and Piqua. 

4. Steubenville, Columbus and Indiana. 

5. Central Ohio. 

6. Dayton, Xenia and Belprc. 

l>y canal from Columbus, it connects with the Ohio and 
Erie Canal, through which it can reach Cleveland on the Lake, 
the Ohio River at Beaver, Pa. ; at Marietta, and Portsmouth, O. 
Arms and munitions of war can be shipped from Columbus, 
by canal, to Erie, Pa., Beaver, "Wells ville, Marietta, Ports- 
mouth and all points on the Ohio River, as well as to Lake Erie. 

Ohio has 900 miles of canal in good navigable order, and 
over oOOO miles of railroads in actual running condition. The 
facilities for transportation are not excelled by any other State 
in the Union ; nor is the city of Columbus excelled by any 
other point in Ohio in this respect. Should a war be immi- 
nent on the southern border of the State, troops can leave 
home from all parts of the State in the morning, be in Colum- 
bus in the evening, there armed, and by midnight be in Cin- 
cinnati. Should Cleveland or the northern border be threat- 
ened, the troop3 could be armed and dispatched, during the 
same lapse of time, to Cleveland, or any point between it and 



Erie, Pa., to Sandusky, or Toledo; and the same remark 
applies to hostile forces on the eastern border. This fact can 
not certainly be unimportant, in the judgment of your honor- 
able body. 

With the well-known fact that St. Louis, Springfield, 111., 
Chicago, Nashville, Baltimore, and Albany, N. Y., are within 
twenty-four hours' time of railroad travel, and that there are 
railroads, well ordered and equipped, making daily trips to 
these points, your memorialists are of opinion that all is said 
which a judgment, not fastidious, could require. 

It may not be improper to state another fact in this place, 
viz. : The dividing line of the population of the United States, 
in a north and south direction, passes through the territory of 
Ohio, near to, and south of Marietta, about 70 miles east of 
Columbus. Situated between the lakes of the North and the 
mountains of the South, all the great streams of migration 
and trade pass through the territory of the State of Ohio. 
She is, therefore, for all practical purposes of an armory, as 
central as any other State. 

MATERIALS. 

Another important consideration is the facility of obtaining 
ample materials for the manufacture of arms. 

The area of supply — which we have estimated at 300 miles 
in every direction from Columbus — includes the great Alle- 
gheny coal field, computed by geologists to have an area of at 
least 50,000 square miles of good mineable, bituminous coal. 
A considerable portion of this coal basin extends over the 
eastern half and south-eastern portions of Ohio, and extends, 
in a range parallel with the Allegheny Mountains, into Ala- 
bama, where it disappears beneath the cretaceous formation. 
The Michigan coal field is computed at 12,000 square miles, 



9 

producing coal of good quality. The Illinois coal basin covers 
an area of about 40,000 square miles; of which 25,000 square 
miles are included in the area under consideration, of which 
Columbus is the centre. 

Of all these coal fields or basins, that of the Allegheny is 
decidedly the best for manufacturing purposes; and it is esti- 
mated, by competent authorities, that at least 40,000 square 
miles of this field are accessible to Columbus by slack water, 
canal, and railroad. Millions of tons of coal arc mined annu- 
ally in this field, and are delivered in Columbus at prices vary- 
ing from $1.50 to $1.75 per ton of 28 bushels. 

This area abounds in all the minerals used in the arts and 
manufactures; as, for example, exhaustless deposits of iron 
ore, saline formations, lime of many formations — from those 
of the lower silurian to those of the upper carboniferous ; con- 
sequently lime of all qualities are very accessible, Columbus 
being, in fact, based upon and surrounded by the latter strata. 
There are exhaustless deposits of gypsum in the vicinity of 
Erie, Sandusky and Ottawa counties, in Ohio. Strontian 
Island in Lake Erie, embracing 15 acres, is almost wholly a 
deposit of sulphate of baryta and strontia — two minerals ex- 
tensively employed in the arts. In various portions of the 
State are considerable deposits of the black oxyd of manga- 
nese. The silicious deposits in the vicinity of Berea, Cuya- 
hoga county, Ohio, Holmes county, Ohio, and Port Huron, 
Michigan, produce the finest grindstones in the world. The 
deposit of Waverly sandstone in Pike county, Ohio, and a 
similar deposit in Cuyahoga county, are in almost exhaustless 
formations, and comprise some of the best material for build- 
ing and other economic purposes. 

The mineral regions of Michigan, included in this area, are 
almost too well known to need any description or cnumera- 



10 

tion ; they consist of exhaustless quantities of copper, lead, 
nickel, strontia, baryta, and almost all other metals generally 
found in primitive formations. 

So far as Ohio is concerned, in I860 there were 59 furnaces 
in blast, which produced 105,500 tons of pig iron, valued at 
$3,171,000, and employed fully 5000 hands. Daring the same 
year there were fully 50,000,000 bushels of coal mined, worth 
$3,000,000, and employing 7000 hands. During the same 
year upwards of 2,000,000 bushels of salt were manufactured. 

Pig-Iron can be purchased in Columbus at as low figures, 
and on as reasonable terms, as at either Pittsburg or Cincin- 
nati. It sold during the season, in large lots, at $18.00 per 
t m, and as the demand for it increases, as new furnaces are 
erected, and superior methods of manufacture obtained and 
developed, competition will supervene, and reduce the price, 
even below the above-named figure. 

Bar Iron, rolled in Columbus, is, and will at all times be, 
furnished at Pittsburg invoice prices. 

Ciiarcoal can be obtained in any required quantities at 
three to five cents per bushel, according to the quality of the 
wood from which it is made. 

Black Walnut Lumber, select, is sold at $1.00 to $1.25 
per 100 feet. Superior second growth ash and oak lumber is 
sold at the same rates. 

Lime-Stone is sold at $1.00 per perch of 25 cubic feet. 
Lime is worth six to eight cents per bushel. 
Brick, of good quality for building purposes, at $2.75 to 
$3 00 per 1000. 

Ordinary oak lumber, for building purposes, at 75 to $1.00 
per 100 feet. 

There are several deposits of "fire-clay" in the State; and 
in the Muskingum valley is an extensive deposit of calcareo 



11 

silicious, or buhr-stone formation, which, in early days, wa3 
used instead of the French buhr mill-stones. 

MOTIVE POWER. 

So far as immediate motive power for manufacturing pur- 
poses is concerned, your memorialists beg permission to say 
that there are now in Columbus over one hundred steam 
engines in operation, giving employment to two thousand 
workmen. There are also in successful operation a large 
rolling-mill, several foundries and machine shops, a large plane 
iy, woolen-mill, a tile factory, saw factory, brass foundery, 
several furniture factories, a large agricultural implement 
establishment, a large and extensive tool factory, a paper mill ( 
&c., &c. 

This area includes, in quantities which cannot be consumed 
in one thousand years, in the ordinary course of manufactures, 
the very choicest varieties of timber trees — from the softest 
deciduous and coniferous trees up to the hardest timber of the 
northern portion of the Temperate Zone. Black walnut and 
maple, so much used in the manufacture of musket and rifle 
stocks, are especially abundant. Hickory and the best of oaks 
abound everywhere. Ohio has yet 10,000,000 of acres of the 
b\st forest trees on the continent, and is the only Western 
State in which timber, for economic purposes of a second 
growth, can be obtained. Annexed is a list of the iudi^enous 
forest trees of Ohio. 



12 



List of Native Forest Trees in Ohio. 



BOTANICAL NAME. 



Magnolia acuminata. L 

Liriodendron tulipifera. L 

Anona triloba. L 

Xantholum Americanum. Mill.. 

Ptelia trifoliata. L , 

Rhus typhnia. L 

" glabra. L , 

" venenata. J). C , 

Tilia Americana. 7, , 

Vitis labrusca. L , 

" aestivalis. Michx 

" cordifolia. Michx 

Acer saccbarinum. Wang 

" var nigrum. Michx 

" dasycarpuin. Ehr 

" rubrum. L 

" Pennsylvanicum. L 

Negundo aceroides. Moench 

/Esculus glabra. Willd 

" fiava. Alton , 

Robinia pscudoacacia 

Cercis Canadensis , 

(lymnocladus Canadensis. Lam 

Gleditscia triacanthos. L 

Prunus Americana. Marsh 

Cerasus Pennsylvanica. Loisel. 

" Virginiana. IK 0. 

" serotina. B.C. 

Pyrus coronaria. X 

Crataegus crus-galli. L 

" coccinea. L 

" tomentosa. L 

" punctata. Juss 

" flava. Ait 

Amelancliier Canadensis. T.§G 

Cornus alternifolia. L 

" Florida. L 

Nyssa multiflora. Wttng 

Kalmia latifolia. L 

Rhododendron maximum. L 

Oxydendron atboreum. J). C... 

Liospyros Virginiana 

Catalpa bignonioides. Walt 

Chionauthus Virginica. L 

Fraxinus Americanus. L 



POPULAR NAME. 



Cucumber tree 

Whitewood, Poplar, 
Tulip-tree 

Papaw 

Prickly Ash 

Shrubby Trefoil 

Staghorn Sumach 

Smooth Sumach 

Poison Sumach 

Lime, Easswood 

Northern Fox Grape.. 

Sum mer Grape 

Winter or b'rost Grape 

Sugar Maple 

Black Maple 

White or Soft Maple.. 

Red or Swamp Maple 

Striped Maple 

Ash-leaved Maple, 
Box Elder 

Ohio Buckeye 

Big or Sweet Buckeye 

Common Eocust 

Red Bud, Judas-tree.. 

Coffee-tree 

Honey Locust 

Wild, Yellow, or Red 
Plum 

Wild Red Cherry 

Choke Cherry 

Wild Black Cherry... 

Sweet-scented Crab- 
Apple 

Coekspur Hawthorn.. 

Scarlet-fruited Thorn 

Downy-leaved or 
Black Thorn 

Dotted Thorn 

Dwarf Thorn 

Shad or Juneberry ... 

Green Dogwood 

Flowering Dogwood... 

Black or Sour Gum, 
Pepperidge 

Mountain Laurel 

Great Laurel 

Sorel- tree 

Persimmon-tree 

Catalpa 

Fringe- tree 

White Ash 



so 



140 
25 



■20 
30 
20 
20 
70 
vine 



80 



WHERE MOST 
ABUNDANT. 



Ohio. 

Tennessee. 

Tennessee. 

Ohio. 

Tennessee. 

All. 

All. 

Mississippi. 

Carolinas. 

All. 

Ohio. 

Ohio. 

Canada. 

All. 

Ohio. 

Canada. 

Carolinas. 

Ohio. 

Ohio. 

Mississippi. 

Tennessee. 

Ohio. 

Ohio. 

Tennessee. 

Ohio. 
Canada. 
Ohio. 
Ohio. 

Ohio. 

All. 

Ohio. 

Ohio. 

Ohio. 

Carolinas. 

N. Ohio. 

All. 

Tennessee. 

Carolinas. (7 ) 
All. 

All. 

Tennessee. 

Mississippi. 

Mississippi. 

Carolinas. 

Canada. 



13 



List of Native Forest Trees in Ohio — Continued. 



BOTANICAL NAME. 


POPULAR NAME. 


7\ 


WHERE All 1ST 
ABUNDANT. 




Red Ash 


60 

40 
70 
70 

50 

liO 
80 
GO 

70 

70 

SO 
CO 
80 

'JO 

80 

75 

50 
80 

40 
60 

70 

70 

100 

50 

40 
40 

GO 
50 
30 
90 
80 

Ml 

f> 
SO 

40 
90 
30 
40 

70 
70 
80 


All. 


juglandifolia. Lam.... 

quadrangulata. Michx. 

" sambucifolia. Lam .... 


Green Ash 


Tennessee. 


Blue Ash 


Ohio. 


Black or Water Ash.. 
Sassafras 


Canada. 
Tennessee. 




Slippery Elm 


Ohio. 




White Kim 


Canada. 




Cork Elm 


Ohio. 




Hackberry, Sugar- 






Tennessee. 




American Red Mul- 






Ohio. 


Plantanus occidentals. Linn ... 


Sycamorq, Button- 


Ohio. 






All. 




Black Walnut 


Ohio. 


Carya alba. A'uit 


Shag-bark Hickory... 
Thick Shell-bark " 


All. 




Tennessee. 


" tonientosa. Nutt 


Mockernut, \\ li i t c- 
Water or Small-fruit- 






Ohio. 




Mississippi. 
Tennessee. 








But ternut Hickory... 

Nutmeg Hickory 

Overcup or Burr Oak 
(i it 

White Oak 


Tennessee. 


myristicaeformis. Michx. 


Mississippi. 

Ohio. 




Ohio. 


alba. /. 


All. 




Post or Iron Oak 

Swamp Chestnut Oak 
Swamp White Oak.... 
Yellow Chestnut Oak 
Rock Chestnut Oak... 
Laurel, Shingle Oak.. 
Black Jack (')ak 
Black or Yellow Oak. 
Scarlet Oak 


Tennessee. 

Mississ'i>i.( 7 ) 

Ohio.(?) 

Tennessee. 

Tennessee. 

Tennessee. 


var. discolor. Michx 

" var. monticola. Michx.. 
" imbricaria. Michx 


" coccinea. Wang 


All. 


Red Oak 






Swamp Spanish or 
Tin Oak 


Tennessee. 




Chinquapin, Dwarf 
American Chestnut ... 




Castanea Americana. Linn 


Ohio. 

Tennessee. 

Mississippi. 




[ronwood, Hornbeam 


( 'arpinus Americana. Michx 


Canada. 




Red or River Birch... 


All. 






lenta. L 


' Sweet or Black Bird 


All. 



14 



List of Native Forest Trees in Ohio — Continued. 



BOTANICAL NAME. 


POPULAR NAME. 




WHERE MOST 
ABUNDANT. 




Black AVillow 


20 
85 
20 
50 
40 
70 
80 
80 
80 
50 
20 
40 
70 

100 
80 

100 
80 
50 
20? 


Ath.(?) 
Tennessee. (? I 








Athab. 


" grandidentata. Mlclix... 


Ath. 
Alston. 




West. 


" var. Canadensis. Michx. 


Angled Cottonwood... 


Ohio. 

Mississippi. 

Athab. 








All. 




Athab. 






All. 






All. 




White Pine 


Canada. 






Canada. 




White Cedar 


Athab. 










All.(?) 
Algon. 









AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 

There cannot be found on the continent of America, another 
area of equal extent of the one under consideration which 
will equal it in agricultural products. This area embraces the 
-wheat region of the United States. The soil throughout this 
entire area rests immediately upon the carboniferous and other 
series below it in a descending geological scale, gives to it as 
a necessary consequence all the essential elements and ingre- 
dients of a grain-producing region. In 1850, Ohio alone pro- 
duced one-seventh of all the wheat grown in the United 
States — and as much as the entire aggregate of the Slave 
States. In Ohio, the aggregate crops of wheat and corn dur- 
ing eleven years (1850 to 1860 inclusive) were as follows : 



15 



Aggregate Crops of Wheat and Corn during Eleven Years. 



Year. 


Corn, 

bushel*. 


Wheat, 
bushels. 


Aggregate 

bushel*. 


1850 


65,500,000 
61,171. 82 

58,165,517 
73,436,090 
52,171.- 51 
87,587,434 
57,802,515 
82,555,186 
50,863,582 
68,730,846 
91,58! ,704 


32,700,000 

25,309,225 

22,962,774 

17,118,311 

11,819,1 lu 

19,569,320 

15,333,837 

25,397,614 

17,65 

13,347,967 

23,641 


98,200,000 


1851 


86,480,507 


L852 


81,128,291 


is:,:; 


90,554, iol 


1854 


63,990,661 


1S55 


1! 17, lor,. 751 


1856 


73,136,852 


1S57 


107,952,800 


1858 


68,519,065 


1859 


82,078,803 


1860 


1 L5,229,060 








749,522,697 


224,853,997 


974,376,694 


Average annual crop 


68,13 


•J!». Ml. 277 


88,570,608 



Of Oats. — We do not know the products quite as accu- 
rately as we do that of corn and wheat, for we have only had 
the State statistics during the last four years. Taking these 
with the United States census of 1810 and 1S50 (the crops 
being those of the previous years,) we have these results : 



In 1889. 
In 1849. 
In 1857. 
lu 1858. 
h. L859. 
Iu I860. 



Acres. 


Product. 
14,393,103 
13,472,742 
22,000,000 

8,026,251 
15,048,910 
25,127,724 


Av 


■ 










669,1 17 
6 13,613 
830.104 


12 
28 
30 



If the years 1858, 1859 and 1S60 be token as a fair test, 
the average crop of oats is twenty-two bushels per acre, though, 
probably, from the extremely low product of 1858, is really 
above that. It will be seen that the average of oats has in- 
creased in the last three years near 30 per cent. In the north- 
eastern counties of this State, very heavy crops of oats are 
raised. 

Of Barley, Eye and Buckwheat. — The following is the 
production of these grains for the only years we have : 



16 

Eye in acres. Bushels. Average. 

In 1830 814,'2(i.") 

In 1849 425,918 

In 1858 90,191 874,513 9.7 

In 1859 102,770] 576,274 ■ 5.6 

In 1860 94,394 1,078,764 11.5 

Except for spring pasture, or straw, there is little encour- 
agement to cultivate rye in this State. 

Barley in acres. Bushels. Average. 

In 1839 212,440 

In 1849 354,358 

In 1858 125,745 2,103.099 16.7 

In 1859 102,931 1,638.577 16.0 

In 1860 71,564 1,548,477 21.6 

The average of barley is more uniform than that of other 
small grains. It is most cultivated in the neighborhood of 
the great breweries at Cincinnati and Cleveland. One-half of 
all barley grown in the State is raised in the Miami country. 

Buckwheat in acres. Bushels. Average. 

In 1S39 633,139 

In 1849 638,060 

In 1858 71,282 791,921 11.1 

In 1859 149,445 3,042,176 23.5 

In 1860 66,827 7113,930 11.1 

The extraordinary production of buckwheat in 1859 was in 
consequence of the destruction of the wheat crop in Jane. It 
was still time to plant buckwheat, which was extensively 
sown in the north-east part of the State. 

Of Butter and Cheese. — This is the first year in which 
the State assessors have returned the quantity of butter and 
cheese. As might be expected, the product of these articles 
is greatest in those counties where cattle and hay abound. 
The total amount returned by the United States' census for 
18-19, (returned in the census of 1850,) and that of the State 
in 1860, are as follows : 

Butter. Cheese. 

In 1849 34,449,379 lbs. 20,819,512 lbs. 

In 1860 38,440.498 " 24,816,420 " 



17 

Of Animals. — The assessors make their returns in June, 
so that we get the animals of that year, but the crops of the 
year before. The following is a tabular view of the number 
of animals, in four different years, in the last period of eleven 
years : 

1850. 1855. 1800. 1861. 

Horses 400,820 624,746 700,097 726,648 

Mules 5,315 7,024 11,018 

Tattle 1,358,947 1,701,189 1,902,712 1,839,757 

Sheep 3,942,929 4,337,943 3,308,174 3,934.70:; 

Swine 1,904,770 2,195,709 2,242,814 2,571, 404 

Aggregate. 7,733,400 8,954,952 8,221,481 9,083,591 > 

The agricultural resources of the States of Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky, are by no means developed 
to their maximum extent, and there is yet a vast difference 
between the possible and actual amount of product in them. 
In Ohio, for instance, fifty bushels of wheat per acre has been 
grown, whilst the average does not exceed fifteen. Of corn, 
over one hundred bushels per acre has frequently been pro- 
duced, whilst the average does not exceed thirty-six. 

Detailed statistics of any of the States other than Ohio are 
not accessible at present, and the amount of their agricultural 
products cannot even be approximated. Ohio is the only 
State which pays any attention to agricultural or industrial 
statistics. 

The annual average of the agricultural products of the 
State of Ohio, for the past six years, has been no less than 
$130,000,000. 

Living for workmen is cheaper in Columbus than in cither 
Cleveland or Cincinnati. It is a fact well established in com- 
mercial and mercantile circles, that all manner of agricultural 
products are higher in the immediate vicinity of large com- 
mercial centres than one hundred miles away from them. All 
agricultural products are higher in Cincinnati than in Colum- 
2 



18 

bus, for the reason that Cincinnati is not only larger but is at 
the head of the south-western market ; hence the living for 
workmen is higher in Cincinnati than here. 

As to healthfulness, there is no city in the State whose bills 
of mortality are as low 'pro rata as that of Columbus ; and the 
city is less frequently visited by epidemics than large commer- 
cial centres. 

Eeal estate, in Columbus and immediate vicinity, is as reason- 
able as that of any other city of its size in the Union. 

In Ohio there is annually expended for education a perma- 
nent fund amounting to nearly three millions of dollars. 
There is no State in the Union whose system of common 
schools is superior to that of Ohio ; and under which benign 
system a good common free school education is secured to 
every child in Ohio. 

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. 

Your memorialists trust that they have been successful in 
showing — 

1. That in selecting a site for a National Armory and 
Arsenal, considerations should be given to the centrality of 
location, in regard to the extent of country to be supplied, 
embracing — 

2. The facilities of transportation ; 

3. The supply of materials used in the manufacture of arms ; 

4. Its ready and easy accessibility to the largest population 
within a given circle or area ; and, 

5. The abundance of food for the operative, and the health - 
fulness of their location. 

In all which respects we have endeavored to make it mani- 
fest that the position of Ohio is most favorable, because of her 
geographical position in relation to all the States, north and 
south, and of the British possessions in Canada ; and that, from 



19 

her position between the lakes of the North and the mountains 
of the South, all the great streams of migration and trade 
pass through her territory : 

Because she is the most populous of all the Western States : 

Because she is in advance of all the Western States in the 
extent and variety of her manufactures: 

Because her agricultural supplies are in advance of any 
other State; whilst her iron, coal, and salt supplies are inex- 
haustible: 

Because her water line, for protection as well as defense, is 
not less than 500 miles on the Ohio, and probably 350 miles 
on Lake Erie, with all which, as well as for the whole interior 
of the State, she has very superior facilities for transportation, 
in her 900 miles of canal, 8000 miles of railroad, and a most 
abundant supply of turnpike and other good roads. And the 
undersigned have endeavored to show that the Capital of 
the State, as selected and named in the Bill now pending 
before your honorable body, is the proper place for the loca- 
tion of a National Armory and Arsenal ; because — 

1. It is the head-quarters of the whole military organization 
of the State. 

2. It is in fact, as much as any other place in the whole 
country, a central radiating point in the great Bailway system 
of the nation. 

3. It is the centre of a circle of only 300 miles radius, em- 
bracing nearly eleven millions of people, and of accessi- 
bility in every part, in a most rapid manner, most if not all of 
the extremes themselves being embraced in 21 hours travel 
by railway. 

-4. Its position midway between the borders of the State, 
while rendering the Government property most secure, ena- 
bles it with facility, and within some 3 to 3| hours, to have 



20 

intercourse and connection with some 5000 miles of water 
carriage, via Cincinnati (which is midway of the Ohio River), 
on the one hand, and via Toledo, Sandusky and Cleveland, 
with all the inland seas of the West, above the Falls of Niag- 
ara, on the other hand. 

5. Within the area aforesaid, it is the centre of by far the 
greatest wheat and life-sustaining cereal productions of any 
other in the United States. 

6. It is surrounded with inexhaustible supplies of all the 
essential materials, whether of minerals or wood, required for 
the most extensive and most permanent manufacturing of 
arms and munitions of war, or otherwise. 

7. It is the best point at which, and from which, in any 
sudden emergency, to concentrate, equip, and send out troops 
— east, west, north, or south. 

8. It is proverbially healthy, as has been shown by a com- 
parison of the bills of mortality with other places; and to 
which maybe appropriately added, the large pro rata number 
of living witnesses in the aged citizens — men and women — of 
Columbus. 

9. The cheapness of motive power, and of all the elements 
necessary for the support of man — as operatives, or otherwise 
— render it, in an economic view, equal, if not superior, to any 
other. 

And it is proper to add, that in January last and previous 
to the introduction of the bill now pending in the House of 
Representatives of Congress, for the establishment of the 
armory and arsenal at Columbus, Ohio, the General Assem- 
bly of Ohio, with entire unanimity, passed a joint resolution 
for the establishment of a National armory in Ohio. A copy of 
which resolution marked (A) is appended to this memorial. 

Whilst this resolution very properly does not designate any 



21 

place in the State as the choice of its citizens, but confines 
itself to the strong ai?d manifest claims of Ohio, in a National 
and State view, to become the recipient of such work : and 
while it is conceded, and even urged, that the location should 
be the result of National as well as State considerations, yet 
as a State question, applicable to and to be judged of by the 
whole people of the State, your memorialists feel confident, in 
the assertion, that no locality in Ohio could combine so vast a 
majority of that people in its favor as their own capital, which 
belongs to them in common and contains great and permanenl 
institutions, which have been built up by millions of their 
money — monuments of their liberality and wisdom. 
All of which is respectfully submitted. 

W. B. HUBBARD, 
SAMUEL GALLOWAY, 
JOHN S. HALL, 
WM. G. DESHLER, 
WALLSTEIN FAILING, 
PETER AMBOS, 

( 'ommittec on behalf of ( 'itizi ns. 

A. B. BUTTLES. 
HORACE WILSON, 
LUTHER DONALDSON, 
Committee on behalf of City Courted. 



22 



(A.) 

JOINT RESOLUTION, 

Relative to establishing a National Armory in Ohio. 

Resolved by the General Assembly of the Stair of Ohio, That our .Senators 
be instructed and our Representatives in Congress be requested to use all 
honorable efforts to procure the location of the contemplated National 
Armory at some suitable point within the State of Ohio; and that, consid- 
ering the patriotism of the people of the State, its central location, the 
skilled labor of many of its citizens, its facilities of communication, its 
productiveness in minerals and all needful supplies, as representatives of 
its people we consider the incidental advantages attendant upon such an 
establishment justly due to this State. 

Resolved, That the Governor communicate copies of these resolutions to 
the President and heads of departments, and our Senators and Represent- 
atives in Congress. 

JAMER R. HUBBELL, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
JAMES MONROE, 
President pro tem. of Ihe Senate. 
Januarv 27, 1862. 



Office or the Secretary of State, i 

Columbus, (hno, April 11, 18G2. \ 

Benjamin 1!. Cowen, Secretary of State of the State of Ohio, do hereby 
certify that the foregoing joint resolution is truly taken and copied from 
the original roll on file in this office. 

[l. s.| Witness my hand and the great seal of the State of Ohio, at, 
Columbus, the 11th day of April, A. D. 1802. 

B. R. COWEN. 
Secretary of State. 



B t86^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




